Victory Freedom Centre

One of our greatest enemy is self also referred to as our carnal nature, the side of us that seeks to be in control. The problem is that our carnal nature desires what is contrary to the will of God. Our carnal nature seeks self gratification at any cost even our own. It is selfish and self-centered and leads us in the opposite direction the Holy Spirit is trying to lead us. Satan uses our carnal nature to fight against us enticing us to bow the knee to it. The bible teaches us that everyone's lust created by our carnal nature is unique to us and is formed from the environment we grew up in, the events we have gone through and the choices we have made along the way. As Christian we are called to resist lust and the carnal nature in order to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit who leads us to righteous living and to bearing righteous fruits in order to be in in God image and likeness. Jesus as the Son of man also had to deal with the carnal nature and Satan enticement to bow the knee to it, he overcame the enticement of the flesh by applying the word of God to the situation, by doing God will not his. The battle takes place in our mind, 2 Cor 10:5 tells us that we win the war by casting down imagination imaginations that exalt itself above the knowledge God has given us through his word and by brining every though captive to the obedience of the teaching of Jesus. 1 Pet 5:8 tells us that Satan seeks who he may devour, this tell us that we have the power to resist sin if we choose to, the power to live a holy live, the power to not be devoured. The bible tells us that we do this by the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:2) and by equipping ourselves and using the whole armor that God has provided for us (Eph 6:10-18).

As Christians we have enemies to fight against, Paul tells us that these enemies are not flesh and blood but spiritual forces. Are fight is with the devil and with our flesh both entice us to live a selfish life and to make ourselves the god of our lives. As Christian we are call to summit unto the leading of the Holy Spirit who will lead us down the path of righteousness. We are called to walk in love and to be a true reflection of God and this transformation is only possible if we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and learn to fight our fight at the source in our mind by renewing it. This is the way we can become strong in the lord and overcome the enticement that come from Satan and from our carnal nature referred to in the bible as our flesh. In order to win this fight we must learn to fight our battles at the though level and allow ourselves to be led of the Holy Spirt in order to bear fruits of righteousness that will transform us into the image and likeness of God.

As a Christian we are at war not with people but with the forces of evil who seek to destroy our faith and the work that God wants to do through us. Paul in Eph 6:10-18 tells us that we are to put on the whole armor that God has provided to us in order to withstand the skims of the enemies of our faith. Satan and his fallen angel are our true enemy and not the people they uses though influences, truth be known he also tries to uses us to effect and come against others. The armor of God is provided to us by the revelation we get from the Holy Spirit, revelation of who God is and who we are called to be in Christ. These revelation will produce fruits like faith and peace and these fruits become part of the armor we dress ourselves in in order to become a true reflection of God and Jesus, an extension of God hand to bless those he seek to reach.

The spirit realm is a reality where both evil and Godly forces exist. Evil forces monitor our habits seeking for opening in our lives where they can influence us and lead us away from God's will and God's protection. They work in our heart (minds) to draw us away from God and to remove God's power and blessing from our lives. On thing that they do is cause us to keep unforgiveness in our heart against other, unforgiveness separates us from God. One of God's spiritual laws is that we can only reap from him what we sow in the lives of others. Most Christian seek to be a channel for God to work through but that is only possible is we walk in forgiveness. The enemy has no legal access to our lives but is given permission to enter if we open the door. 1 Pet 5:8 tells us that Satan is like a roaring lion seeking who he may or who allows himself to be devoured. Access can be granted through the things we allow in our live, the things we watch, worship and entertain in our minds. As Christians God gave us power to interfere with what the enemy is attempting to do through prayer, prayer we make for us and for those we stand in the gap for. This is why we are told to pray without ceasing , to always be ready come against the forces of evil when they try to take over areas of our lives and those we watch over. Jesus in John 14:14 says that if we ask anything in his name he will do it, he will step in and push back the forces of evil who are interfering with us. Though his death on the cross Jesus gave those who chooses to accept him as lord the power that is in his shed blood to overcome their spiritual enemies. As a Christian Satan has no legal access to our lives but he is given authority to come in if we leave the door open.

Love is not only shown in blessing but in discipline also and just like our parents disciplined us as children so does God as his children in order to bring us to an expected end. God's goal is to bring us back to what he called us to be when he first created mankind. Gen 1:26-27 tells us that God created us to be in his image and likeness but sadly everyone of us have drifted from this expectation. So because he loves us and wants to be one with us for eternity he not only blesses us but he discipline us also. Paul tells us in Heb 12:8 that if we refuse his correction then we are saying to him that we don't want to be his child. God's goal is to bring us back to holiness to his very nature. Heb 12:14 clearly tells us that without holiness no man will see meaning be able to interact and be intimate with God. Not because he rejects us and doesn't love us but because he is light and in him there can't be no darkness as all (1 John 1:5). God uses discipline to sanctify us unto holiness to help us bear the same fruits (behaviors) as him. Jesus refers to this as being pruned (John 15:2) in order to insure that we bear the same fruits as God transforming us in his likeness just like he intended us to be in the first place. The way to evade discipline from God is to trust him and to walk in his ways, we are to also concentrate on growing the fruits of the Holy Spirit in order to be a true reflection of God. The more we change into God's likeness the more we will become a light in this world for him to draw other unto himself.

God created mankind both male and female to be in his image, to live by his standards, to bear the same fruits as him referring to our behaviors in order to be a true reflection of him. God also created us with free will giving us the power of choice enabling us to walk away from him if we chose to do so. But even at this point God love for us will not changed even if sin separates us from him. His love will still reach out to us calling us to return to him. God's love for us is so great that made a way through Jesus for us to be reconciled with him, for our sins to be forgiven and for intimacy to be restored. The bible tells us that God love for us begins at conception in our mothers womb and from that moment he is invested in everything we do watching over us. He has a plan for everyone of us and a path for us to follow but we must chose to walk in his way, chose to be a true reelection of him. Those who refuse to walk in his ways also choose to be separated from him for eternity by holding on to their sins. Not because he stops loving us but because sin can't cohabit with God for he is a holy God just like light can't cohabit with darkness. there is no one that will ever love us more then God but we must also show our love to him choosing to walk in his ways, to bear the same fruits as he does and by choosing to become a true reelection of him.

Our goal as Christians should be righteousness, being save doesn't mean you keep on living a sinful life but that you embark on the road to righteousness referred by Paul as the road to perfection (Heb 6:1). Jesus himself tells us that we should be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect (Mat 5:48). Our goal should be to live a life that reflects the one we called savior, calling ourselves a Christian is to tell those around us that we are a Christ-like a reflection of Jesus. Sadly many Christian confess Jesus as lord but choose to live a life that denies they even know him. They believe that a simple confession of Jesus a savior is all that is needed to spend eternity with him and God and it isn't so. Jesus on the other hand tells us that those who seek to follow him must first be willing to deny themselves, to stop living for self and secondly are to also to pick up their cross meaning take on God agenda, to do his will which is for us to become a true reflections of him and Jesus. In John 17:3 Jesus describes eternal life not as going to heaven but as becoming one with him and with God the Father. Heb 12:14 tells us without holiness, without perfection no man will see God. The only way to spend eternity with God is but putting on his nature, by being a true reflection of his nature, to be in his image and likeness just like he intended us to be when he created us (Gen 1:26-27). To be righteous doesn't mean that we never fall but it does mean that we don't fall on purpose because it's what we want to do. When we do fall we are required to come to God with a sincere heart and repent in turn God promises to forgive us and to cleans us form our unrighteousness. Let's not forget that the day is coming when you will have to stand before Jesus to be judge by him and he will determined who truly lived a life that reelects his and who live life as a hypocrite, those who by choice fail to live in sin will find themselves separated from him for eternity and will share Satan fate in the Lake of Fire.

In Phil 4:17 Paul tells us that he didn't preach about giving to the work of God because he seek a gift for himself but because he understood the law of sowing and reaping. We can only reap from God what we have first sown, this is why Jesus said we can expect to be forgiven unless we first forgive. The same is true when it come to provisions, God promises to bless those who bless others. We can't expect for God to take care of our need when we refuse to help others with their needs. We are not to foolishly give to other but are called to follow Gods direction to give and bless others when he lead us to do so. Greed is a big problem, the bible teaches us that the greedy will not inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Cor 6:10). This is why Jesus tells us to not lay for ourselves treasures here on earth but to store then in heaven by being obedient unto God leading to bless those he seek to bless though us. We should always remember that on Judgement Day we will all have to give an account of ourselves, did we live for us to for him, did we do our will or his. The more you are obedient to God leading to bless other the more he will bless you not so you can have more but so he can use you to bless more. Your faithfulness to God leading to bless other will also cause God to bless you so that your needs and the needs of your family will be taken care of. We must always remember that when we die all of our earthly possession will stay behind so lets no lay treasures here on earth but in heaven.

1 Cor 13:13 tells us that as a Christian we need incorporate faith, hope and love in our lives but it end by telling us that the greatest of these three is love. We are not talking about earthly carnal love but about the God kind of love referred to as agape as described in 1 Cor 13:4-8. Jesus commands us in John 13:34 that we are to love one another with the same love he has shown us and add in John 14:21 that we are to show our love for him and God the father by keeping this command. Jesus also tells us in John 15:14 that keeping his commandment to love one another with agape love elevates us to the level of intimacy of a friend with God and himself. Our job as Christians is to bring healing to a world filled with darkness and hurt. Gal 5:22 tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is agape love and John adds that the world will know that we are Christians by the love we show to each other. In order to walk in agape love we must put on the nature of God and change are carnal behaviors to his, we must not only love others as we would want them to love us but we must love them as Jesus has loved us.

Most people see tiding as a touchy subject believing that only money hungry pastors teach tiding when in reality giving not only to the church but to those God lead us to is a Kingdom principle. Just like we can't expect to be forgiven unless we forgive others Luke 6:38 tells us that we are to give in order to receive because another Kingdom Principle is that we can only reap what we sow. Those who sow sparingly will only reap sparingly (2 Cor 9:6). In Malachi 3:10-11 God tells us to bring our tithes or offering into his storehouse referring to you local church in order that there would be provision for the need of the church and to help others who are in need. He goes on to tells us to put him to the test adding that our giving from a genuine heart will cause him to open a window of blessing in our lives not only to bless us but so that we can also be a blessing to many more. God adds that our giving will also cause him to rebuke the devour from interacting with us from destroying what is in our storehouse referring to our provision for our needs and the needs of our family. Our giving to God must be an act of love, honor and obedience toward him and are we are not to give fearing loss when we give we must give by faith knowing that will always take care of his children. In Mat 6:19-24 Jesus tells us to lay our treasures in heaven and not in the earth it can be stolen and taken away from us, our giving to God should not be determined by our fear of going without or buy our lust to accumulate money because we can't love or serve two masters. Your heart can only belong to God if you truly trust in him and chose to put him before anything else.